Code construction based on Prometheus Orthonormal Sets (PONS) has beneficial properties when applied to direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) communications. A spread spectrum receiver employs cross-correlation, to find a time lag corresponding to an absolute time delay between the receiver and a spread spectrum transmitter. The correlation represents a significant computational burden for a correlator processor in the receiver. Spread spectrum techniques typically trade a large spread spectrum spreading factor for low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at a given output power of the transmitter. Consequently, detecting a signal in the receiver using means other than correlation is difficult.